News

technocollie showed me the latest Carpe Diem comic that eerily describes ionotter quite nicely... (Damn otter...)

In various news, I've been using the G35 more over the past couple of days... took it in on Thursday to get a protection package, where the inside and outside of the car get rustproofed and treated. Also got the windows tinted today... both I think worthwhile investments considering I plan to keep the car for at least 5 years, and possibly longer. I may trade it in for a hybrid version later if gas prices continue to climb (and I honestly don't see them doing otherwise anytime soon).

I also got to see a shiatsu chair that's selling for around $520, about the price of 4 shiatsu sessions. While the massage is pretty hard (I think it could injure me if I'm not careful), it is apparently quite effective. I'm pondering getting one, and that's on the advice of not just technocollie but also his mom. Given how stressed I get during the week, I could use something nice and relaxing. But I may hold off -- at least temporarily -- until my finances stabilize somewhat.

Getting pretty close to filing my taxes online... one company, TaxSlayer, is offering free federal and state filing to active-duty military so I'm doing that. Next year is probably gonna be more of a headache because whatever was previously filed with my mom's taxes will now have to be filed with mine. It's not happening this year because I'm filing for 2004, and the records deliberately weren't updated until the end of the year so we wouldn't have to deal with a major tax headache this year.

In other news, I checked out a pet supply store today while my car was being tinted. On display in part of the store were 3 cats in cages, one of which was named Garfield... and had the fur color of Morris, the 9-Lives cat. Garfield was only 2 years old but he was a BIG cat... not so much in terms of being fat, but certainly in terms of size. In fact, I think he was probably about 1.5 times the size of Tiger, a cat I grew up with. Garfield was also the most vocal of the cats... the other two were snoozing but barely respnded to human contact. The agency that was sponsoring the cats' appearance was an animal welfare agency (don't remember the specific name)... apparently the animals were, or must have been, rescued strays.

Seeing those cats, as well as several others running loose on the base where I work, makes me miss my own feline friends that I grew up with. If I could spare the time, I'd keep a cat myself, but I barely have enough time for myself during the week as it is...